Mona Lisa doesn’t know about her true heritage until the day Gryphon arrives at the hospital where she works as a nurse. Gryphon is suffering from a wound inflicted by silver, a parting gift from his now former Queen, Mona Sera. Gryphon immediately recognizes Mona Lisa as one of the Monère, a race with special powers and guided by the light of the moon. Mona Lisa isn’t sure she believes a word Gryphon is telling her, but she can’t deny the attraction she feels between them. Mona Lisa is about to enter a world in which treachery is around every corner as she awakens to the true power within her.

MONA LISA AWAKENING is a powerful, character driven story.  The heart of Mona Lisa is central to the story as she is very different from the cruelty of the other Queens. The Monère society is ruled by females and has a caste system in place, whereby many are treated as nothing more than chattel. Mona Lisa has worked as a healer in her job and she has the ideals one would expect from a modern day woman. Slavery of any sort is pure anathema to her. Watching Mona Lisa tackle the issues and political intrigues of this closed society is mesmerizing. Sunny does a beautiful job at developing the characters of Mona Lisa and her newly formed cadre of men.

MONA LISA AWAKENING is not for the faint of heart. Some of the scenes depicted are quite brutal in their intensity. The world of the Monère doesn’t necessarily consider rape a taboo and so there are some situations that could easily offend certain readers due to the graphic details and situations that occur. However, Sunny ensures that these events are not gratuitous as they fit into the confines of the world she has created. More importantly, Mona Lisa opposes such horrendous acts and readers will cheer as she stands up for true justice and freedom.

Reviewed by Debbie

Rating:

Posted August 2007